A social motives perspective on personality

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Big Two personality (agency, communion) and Big Five personality (O[penness], E[xtraversion], A[greeableness], [C]onscientiousness, [N]euroticism) are most widely used personality factor models. The true value of these models hinges on their capacity to predict thought, feeling, and behaviour. Yet, personality psychologists have lamented that the effects of personality factors on their outcomes can grossly diverge across social contexts, posing a validity threat. However, such diversity need not be a threat if it follows theoretical predictions reflecting core features of personality factors. Unfortunately, relevant theories are scarce. Hence, in this application I seek to develop a theoretical perspective on why personality effects should diverge across social contexts: The social motives perspective (SMP). At the heart of the SMP lies the assumption that personality factors are linked to the social master motives for social conformity (swimming with the social tide) and social deviance (swimming against the social tide). Specifically, communion, A, and C are linked to the social conformity motive, whereas agency and O are linked to the social deviance motive. Hence, communion, A, and C should predict outcomes most strongly in social contexts where these outcomes are common, whereas agency and O should predict outcomes most strongly in social contexts where they are uncommon. Consider religiosity as one example. Religious life allows expression of communion, A, and C, which is why they have been described as the pan-cultural personality basis of religiosity. The validity of such expressiveness processes notwithstanding, the SMP makes different predictions. Given that communion, A, and C are linked to the social conformity motive, these personality factors should predict religiosity most strongly in religious social contexts and least strongly in secular social contexts. Further, given that agency and O are linked to the social deviance motive, these personality factors should predict religiosity least strongly in religious social contexts and most strongly in secular social contexts. In highly secular social contexts, then, agency and O may be the sole personality basis of religiosity, reversing classic expressiveness predictions. Our preliminary work supported the SMP regarding the Big Two and religiosity across 11 countries (N = 187,957) and the Big Five and religiosity across 66 countries (N = 1,129,334). Six work packages (WPs) will fully develop the SMP. WP1 will meta-analytically summarize crosscultural differences in personality effects and use the SMP to explain these differences. WP2 will evaluate the most relevant social context for social conformity and social deviance motives. WP3 DFG form 54.011 – 2/13 page 4 of 7 will offer a first multi-wave longitudinal test. WP4 will provide first experimental evidence. WP5 will apply the SMP to revive the “prosocial personality.” Finally, WP6 will result in a theoretical review of the SMP. Across the WPs, the SMP will explain diverse outcomes: other-profitable behaviour, partner preferences, political beliefs, occupational choice, drug abuse, consumer choice, and behaviour to reduce climate change, natural resource depletion, and social inequality. The goal is to establish SMP as a process-oriented, context-attentive, and motive-based theory of personality, which integrates key insights from social, self, motivational, and cultural psychology in order to reconcile discrepant personality effects across social contexts.